Annie Cullen
by jdriddle1994
Summary: Before Bella joined the family there was Annie. Esme and Carlisle find her in the middle of the woods in the middle of a gruesome scene and is raised by the Cullen's. Rated T for now for language. There may be a lemon or two in the far future. Oh and a surprise imprint. Read and REVIEW!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is a story I just thought of one day and have been trying to put into words. Hope you enjoy and don't forget to review!**

**Disclaimer: All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. I Own Annie and play with the others.**

**WARNING: Child spanking for bad behavior, Language, and possible lemons in the future!**

**Esme's POV **

The moon was bright up above the trees. Even though I didn't need the light, I still liked the way everything looked in its shadows. The forest smelt of wet rotting leaves. It wasn't the most pleasant scent in the world, but it wasn't the most disgusting scent either. I stood up straighter and looked down at the doe I had managed to catch and kill to feed. I felt a little bad looking down at its lifeless form. But it was a lot better than killing a human.

"Are you about ready to head home?" My husband's soft voice asked behind me. I nodded without looking at him and he wrapped his arms around my waist, planting a light kiss on my neck. I smiled and leaned against him.

"We have the house to ourselves." He breathed, leaving another kiss higher on my neck. I shuttered a little at the feelings he was causing to run through my body. If I were still human my heart would have been pounding. Even after all these years of being with Carlisle, I was still madly in love with him. Actually my love for him grew with everyday I was with him.

"All the kids are gone for Valentines. Jasper and Alice won't be home until tomorrow, Edward is in Alaska and Rose and Emmett are in Paris. There are a lot of possibilities for tonight." He growled against my ear. I turned in his arms and stood on tiptoes to give him a small kiss on the lips.

"Then why are we still standing in the middle of the forest?" I asked. He smiled and kissed my nose before taking my hand and leading me in the direction of home. We were enjoying walk when it hit us like a ton of bricks. The scent of fresh human blood was strong. I looked at Carlisle and could see the slight panic on his face. We ran in the direction of the scent, him still holding my hand, though his grasp had gotten tighter. When we found the source I inhaled sharply.

"Oh my God." Carlisle gasped. In a little clearing were a shredded tent and several shredded items. Food lay scattered on the ground. Blood splattered the side of the part of the tent that was still standing and stained feathers from pillows. In the midst of it all was a young couple. The condition they were in was way too gruesome for anyone to see. There was another scent mingled in with the blood. A vampire had been here. A vampire had done this horrible act.

"Stay here." Carlisle whispered in a hard voice. I reluctantly let go of his hand. He walked gingerly over the mess of the campsite and stopped next to the couple. He knelt down and put a hand to the young man's neck. Even though we both knew they were dead, my husband still had hope. He stayed knelt down between them after he had felt the woman's neck. I heard him sigh. I had stopped breathing when we first came upon the scene, it amazed me how Carlisle could handle being around all this blood and not be tempted even when he was breathing right in the middle of it. I took a step toward him and stopped when I heard paper crinkle under my step. I looked down and knew I would have cried if I were able to. A pink valentine's card lay smeared with blood under my foot. I hesitantly picked it up. On the front was a family of three bears. A mother and father bear cuddled a smiling baby bear. I opened it with shaking hands.

_To a very special girl. We love you more than you could ever know._

_With lots of love- Mommy and Daddy._

"Carlisle." I breathed when the realization hit me. Carlisle stood up and turned to look at me with a worried look.

"Are you-?" He broke off. I'd heard it too. I guess we both had been shocked by the scene we weren't paying much attention to the world around us. But now I heard it. A small whimper and sniffle.

"Oh, dear God, no." I gasped dropping the card and running to the tent. I opened the flap with shaking hands as Carlisle knelt beside me. I was met by a pair of big frightened blue eyes. The little girl was wrapped in a sleeping bag, her face stained with tears, nose running, and trembling. She whimpered and backed away tighter in the corner. I looked at Carlisle, panicked and not sure what to do. He looked as unsure as I did. He cleared his throat and moved in a little closer.

"Are you hurt?" He asked softly. The girl didn't move or say anything.

"Carlisle what do we do?" I asked so low only he could hear.

"I don't know, but this happened not too long ago and I would like to get her out of here before he decides to come back." He whispered back as low as I had. He moved a little closer, slowly. The girls breathing got quicker and her eyes widened even more. Then her eyes slid closed and she slumped forward.

"Carlisle!" I gasped.

"It's ok, she just fainted." He whispered. I was still worried. Carlisle crawled in and pulled the child against his chest.

"We'll take her home, I'll examine her there." He said. I nodded and stood up with him. We left the crime scene and ran the rest of the way back to the car. I got in the driver's side and Carlisle laid the girl across the backseat and got in with her. I longed to be the one next to her but I knew Carlisle wanted to go ahead and look her over a little.

"She has a few scratches." He confirmed a few minutes after we had been on the road.

"I just wonder why he didn't…. I mean he killed her parents why didn't he…?" I could finish what I was trying to say.

"I know dear. I wonder too." He whispered. In my anger I floored the pedal. What would have taken an hour took only thirty minutes for us to be in front of the house. I got out and unlocked the front door.

"Esme, are you ok?" Carlisle asked when he came in carrying the little girl.

"I'm worried about her." I whispered.

"I know me too." He said.

"What are we going to do?" I asked.

"Right now I need to clean out her scratches. If you want to go up to our room and draw a hot bath, we'll get her clean." He said softly. I nodded and he kissed my cheek before heading towards his office. I ran up the stairs and turned on the light in the bathroom and knelt down beside the Jacuzzi tub and turned on the water. I didn't really know what was too hot or too cold. Carlisle would know when he came up. I got up and went to my closet, looking for something small enough that would fit her. I settled on a plain grey t-shirt and opened Carlisle's underwear drawer. I set the t-shirt and a pair of Carlisle's black boxer shorts on the bed and sat down, waiting for him to come up. That's when I noticed my phone flashing on the dresser where I had left it before Carlisle and I had gone hunting. I picked it up and noticed I had fifty missed calls, twenty voicemails, and a hundred text messages. All of them were from Alice.

We are on our way home. Was the last text message I had received. It had come a few minutes before we got home. I dialed the number for my voicemail.

"Esme, call me as soon as you can." Alice spoke frantically on the first one.

"Esme this isn't one of my mindless calls." The second said.

"There is going to be an accident tonight!" The tenth one said.

"Esme, a vampire attack is going to happen. A little girl is going to be orphaned and you're going to bring her home. Please call me!" The fifteenth said.

"Ok we are on our way home. We should be back at one in the morning." On the last one she sounded ticked. I looked at the clock. It was twelve. I heard Carlisle coming up the stairs so I moved back to the bathroom and turned off the water. I heard sniffling and I turned to see that she had woken up.

"She's ok, just in shock I think." He whispered. I nodded and moved aside so he could kneel down beside me. He set the girl down in front of us. She sniffed and rubbed at her eyes.

"Do you want to take a bath?" Carlisle asked the girl. She sniffed and looked from Carlisle to me, then back to Carlisle. She looked at him with frightened eyes.

"Carlisle, maybe you should leave for this part." I whispered gently. He nodded and smiled gently at the girl before standing up and leaving, shutting the door behind him. When he left she moved closer to me and I smiled before lifting her nightdress over her head. I lifted her up and put her in the water. She winced a little and I felt a surge of panic.

"Is it too hot?" I asked.

"N-no." She said biting her lip before pointing to a scrape on her knee. I understood and made a mental note to be careful. I helped her wet her hair and grabbed a bottle of my strawberry shampoo. I gently scrubbed her hair and she seemed to relax a little more.

"May I ask your name?" I asked gently.

"I'm Annie." She whispered looking down at the water.

"My names Esme." I said gently, rinsing her hair and picking up a washcloth. "How old are you?" Instead of answering she held up four fingers. I finished with her quickly and lifted her out of the tub, and quickly wrapped her in a pink towel. I used another towel to dry her hair. When I was done her hair hung around her face in little brown curls. She was a pretty little girl. She had a few freckles on her nose that added to her cuteness. She was tall for her age and pretty thin.

" Esme?" She asked a little hesitantly.

" Yes?" I answered.

"Where are my mommy and daddy?" She asked curiously. I gaped at her. I didn't know how to answer. She couldn't have forgotten what had happened. Or maybe she had. Maybe she was in that much shock as to forget what happened. I was saved by Carlisle knocking on the bathroom door.

"Do you mind if he comes in?" I asked her. She bit her lip and nodded.

"Come in." I called gently. Carlisle came in with the clothes I had laid out. He smiled gently at her and she smiled shyly back. He handed the clothes to me and turned his back. I helped Annie dress quickly so he could turn around. The shorts hung down to below her knees and the shirt hung down just as low. I sighed, but it was the best I could do for now.

"Alice called." He said gently.

"Yeah she left a message for me." I said with a little laugh. Annie listened curiously but didn't say anything as I grabbed a brush and ran it lightly through her hair. She tried to hide a yawn, and I noticed how her eyes drooped a little bit.

"Are you tired?" I asked.

"A little." She said, blushing. I stood up and reached my hand out to her. She took it and I led her out of the bathroom. Carlisle followed behind us and turned off the light in the bathroom. He went around us and pulled the thick black quilt on our bed down and plumped the pillows. I picked her up and set her in the middle of the bed, Carlisle sat on one side of her and I took the other side.

"Go to sleep sweet heart." Carlisle whispered gently. Annie didn't argue, just slid deeper under the quilt and buried her face in one of the pillows. It wasn't long at all before she was asleep.

"What are we going to tell her?" I whispered.

"I don't know." Carlisle sighed. "Alice said she had a vision. She didn't want to tell me on the phone though."

"I hope it's nothing bad." I said looking down at the sleeping child between us.

"I hate to say this because I don't want to jinx her, but I don't think it can get any worse." He sighed. We were quiet for a few more minutes.

"She asked me where her parents were." I said sadly.

"I know. It's going to be hard to tell her that they're-"He stopped when we heard a car coming up the driveway fast. I looked at Carlisle before I got up from the bed, slow so as not to wake up Annie, and ran quickly down to the living room right as Alice and Jasper came through the front door.

"How is she?" Alice asked quickly, worry etched on her face.

"She's ok, she's asleep right now." Carlisle answered putting an arm around my waist. Alice looked up at the ceiling and that blank look came across her face.

"She will sleep throughout the night and wake up around nine-thirty." She said before moving past us to the living room. "I had a vision on the way home." She said, back facing us. I looked at Jasper and he sighed.

"She wouldn't tell me either." He said rubbing the back of his head.

"Alice just, tell us." I said worried.

"I was going to tell everyone, but Rose and Emmett won't be home till tomorrow and Edward won't be able to be back until tonight." She sighed turning around. I noticed she didn't look worried, but excited.

"Alice." Carlisle said a little annoyed.

"Ok, ok." She said. She was hiding a smile now. "In the vision I saw her with us. Ten years from now." She finished in a rush. I gaped at her and Jasper gasped.

"You mean…" He trailed off and I could see the fear in his face.

"Yes. Esme and Carlisle are going to keep her. We are going to have a baby sister!" She squealed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Carlisle's POV**

"We can't do this." Jasper was the first to speak.

"Yes we can." Alice said frowning and moving towards him.

"Think Alice. This is a house full of _vampires. _ She is a _human _kid. Kids fall down a lot. They scrape their knees and different things." Jasper looked frightened, even when Alice took his hand and squeezed it.

"I've seen the future sweetheart. It's going to work out. In my vision we were playing baseball with her and she was teasing Emmett for missing the ball even though he's a vampire." She said.

"So she will know what we are?" Esme asked looking a little nervous. I squeezed my arm around her waist and she leaned into me.

"Yes. And she takes it well. I've seen that too." She said with a smile.

"When?" I asked.

"I don't know yet." She sighed. We were all silent for a while. We could all hear the faint thump of Annie's heart beat upstairs. It was kind of nice hearing it. It had been since Bella was human that anyone alive had been staying with us. She whimpered a little and Esme looked at me worriedly.

"We kind of don't have a choice." Alice said quietly.

"What do you mean?" I asked frowning.

"A man is going to come upon the campsite in an hour. He's an early fisherman and he will get lost looking for the lake. When he finds, he is going to call the police." She said. Jasper sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Jasper I swear you're going to do great. Have I ever lied to you about my visions?" He shook his head and Alice smiled, kissing his cheek.

"If it will help your nerves, we won't leave you alone with her until you're used to her." She said softly.

"That would be good." He muttered. He sat down on the sofa and Alice sat next to him. We were silent for a while.

"How is everyone else going to take it?" Jasper asked softly.

" Rose is going to be worried but also excited and Emmett is going to be beyond happy and excited." Alice said with a giggle.

"Yeah I can see why Emmett would be happy about this. There will finally be someone on his own level of thinking huh?" Jasper chuckled and I laughed too. Emmett was the playful type. At least Annie wouldn't be lonely with him around.

"What about Edward?" Esme asked. Alice rolled her eyes and sighed.

"He's going to be Edward. He's going to be totally against it for a couple of days but…" Alice inhaled sharply and I glanced at her to see she had that blank look on her face again. A second later she blinked and looked a little uncomfortable.

"Um… Esme we need to go shopping and pick up a few things." She said.

"Why?" Jasper asked frowning.

"Well she needs clothes for starters. And she wets the bed." She said looking up at Esme and I. Esme winced a little and sighed. I was surprised I hadn't seen that coming. I've worked around kids for years so I knew a lot of kids in the children wards around Annie's age wet the bed.

"Think we should go now? As far as I've seen she won't be awake anytime soon." Alice asked.

"It might be best. We do need food for when she wakes up." Esme said looking at me. I nodded and kissed her forehead. Alice got up and grabbed her purse from the floor by the door.

"Should you go?" Jasper asked worriedly.

"It's ok Jazz. Carlisle won't leave you alone." Alice assured him. Jasper looked at me and I nodded.

"We'll play a game of chess or something if you want." I said. He nodded and sighed.

"I'm sorry I know I'm overly worried about this." He smiled sheepishly.

"It's ok babe, I promise it'll all be fine." Alice said kissing him lightly before heading outside to her car. Esme kissed me before grabbing her purse and following. Jasper and I sat down to a game of chess. We were silent for a few games; the only sound was Annie's heart beat and an occasional sigh in her sleep or moan.

"It would be kind of fun." Jasper mused after losing the fifth time in a row.

"Having a child in the house?" I asked, resetting my pieces.

"Yeah. It would be like we were actually…" He trailed off and I smiled a little.

"Normal?" I asked. He nodded sadly. "I love having all of you with us. But I have on occasion longed to actually raise a child." I admitted.

"I haven't really been around younger kids since before I was changed. I vaguely remember my younger siblings." He said.

"I'm around kids in the hospital sometimes." I said. "They can be a handful."

"Can't be much worse than Emmett." Jasper muttered. I thought for a second before nodding.

"Yeah. At least she can't break a coffee table in half when her football team fumbles." I chuckled. Jasper laughed with me. It went quiet for a while. A couple more games later I heard whimpers up above us.

"She's not waking up is she?" Jasper asked looking up at the ceiling. I shrugged, listening. "Alice said she wasn't supposed to wake up until later." He was starting to sound a little panicked. The whimpers turned into straight out crying and I stood up.

"Guess something changed." I said heading towards the stairs. I found Annie sitting up, crying into her knees. She looked up when I came in and she crawled across the bed towards me, still crying. I sat on the edge of the bed and she crawled into my lap, clutching my t-shirt tightly.

"What's wrong sweetheart?" I asked gently. Her answer was more sniffles and hiccups. I was aware of the strong scent of urine coming from her and I glanced at where she had been laying and winced when I saw the giant wet spot in the sheets.

"I-I s-s-sowwy!" She cried against my chest as sobs racked her small body. I felt bad for her and I hugged her tightly, rubbing her wet back soothingly.

"It's ok, shh, don't cry." I whispered against her hair. It was a few minutes before she settled down a little. She started coughing a little, from all the crying.

"Jasper, bring up a glass of water." I spoke loud enough for him to hear.

"Carlisle, I can't." Jasper answered in a pained tone.

"Yes you can, I'm in here its ok." I answered. He didn't say anything but I heard him moving around downstairs. She coughed against me and I patted her back lightly. A few minutes later the bedroom door opened a little more and Jasper stood at the doorway. I motioned for him to come in. he hesitated before stepping into the room, still staying close to the door. I reached for the glass of water and he sighed before coming all the way to the bed. Annie heard him sigh and looked over her shoulder, jumping a little at seeing another person in the room.

"Annie, this is my son Jasper." I told her as I held the glass up to her mouth. She took a sip, keeping her eyes on Jasper and Jasper doing the same, folding his arms and looking a little uncomfortable. I continued rubbing her back for a few more silent moments. Jasper looked Annie up and down for a second before moving over to my dresser. A second later he returned with another pair of my shorts and one of my white undershirts. I pushed Annie back a little and took the shirt first.

"Do you mind if we change your clothes?" I asked her gently. She bit her lip and thought for a second before reluctantly lifted her arms. I pulled the shirt over her head and tossed it to the floor before quickly putting the clean one on her. I set her on the floor and held the shorts out to her.

"Do you want to do this part or you want me to?" I asked. She quickly grabbed the shorts and I looked away, as did Jasper. She kept herself balanced by holding my knee with one hand.

"Done." She whispered a minute later. I looked back at her and couldn't but smile a little at seeing her holding the shorts in place.

"Stay here for a second." I said standing up. I went into the hallway and got a spare sheet from the linen closet. When I returned to the room I had to bite back a laugh when I found both of them standing where I left them just staring at each other. Both looked just as frightened as the other. I changed the sheets as quickly as I could at human pace and then put Annie back on the bed.

"Ok, you can go back to sleep now." I said as she crawled to the top and flopped back against the pillows. I covered her with the comforter and her eyes immediately started closing again.

"W-will you s-stay with me?" She asked nervously. I moved so I was leaning against the pillows with her and nodded.

"Of course." I answered. She moved a little closer to me as I heard Esme and Alice returning.

"I'm going to see if I can help them." Jasper said pointing over his shoulder. I nodded and Annie watched him leave, fighting to keep her eyes open.

"Why was he staring at me?" She asked, trying to cover a yawn, after he had shut the door. I was quiet for a second, trying to think of what to say.

"He… didn't want to scare you." I said. She thought for a second then yawned again.

"I'm not scared." She said tiredly snuggling deep into the pillows. I moved a stray curl out of her face and she moved a little closer to me. I put my hand on her back and rubbed gently. Within a minute she was asleep again. I got up slowly from the bed and headed downstairs. I found Jasper and the girls in the kitchen.

"You did fine." Alice said as she unpacked food from the shopping bags.

"You should have told me." Jasper said sternly.

"I know but I just wanted you to see you could do it." She said.

"We only got a few things for now, since we don't really know what she likes." Esme said pulling out a few articles of clothing. I leaned against the counter as they finished unpacking the bags.

…..

(_Later)_

As Alice had predicted, Annie didn't wake up again until nine-thirty. I heard her crying and Esme moved to go up the stairs.

"Can I come?" Alice asked excitedly.

"I don't know Alice. Why don't you and Jasper wait in the kitchen and we will bring her down. Just so you don't scare her." Esme said. Alice sighed and nodded, heading towards the kitchen with Jasper behind her. Annie was sitting up in the bed, rubbing her eyes and sniffling.

"Hey darling." Esme said gently, sitting down on the bed. Annie hurried to her side and Esme rubbed her back. I leaned against the door frame and watched as my wife smoothed Annie's hair from her face and wiped her eyes with the edge of the sheet.

"Did you sleep well?" She asked, kissing the top of her head. Annie nodded and sniffed against her side. Esme pulled her up into her arms and headed towards the door. Annie looked up and noticed me. I smiled and she sniffed again.

"Where we going?" She asked.

"I'm going to introduce you to someone." Esme said as I followed her down the hallway.

"Who?"

"My daughter Alice and her husband Jasper."

"I met him. He's scared of me." I bit back a laugh and Esme smiled.

"He'll get used to you."

"Are mommy and daddy coming to get me today?" Esme froze halfway down the stairs. I stopped too. I should have seen this coming. Of course she would want to know where her parents were.

"I…honey…" Esme trailed off and looked at me for help. I cleared my throat and walked the rest of the way to them and put my hand on Annie's back.

"Annie, we're going to have to discuss something." I said gently.

"Am I in trouble?" She asked frowning. I was little thrown off by the question.

"No of course not. Why do you ask?" Esme asked smoothing her hair back.

"Whenever I do something bad, daddy says we gotta dis…disgust it." She said trying to pronounce "discuss" correctly. I bit back another laugh and patted her back.

"No honey, you're not in trouble." I assured her and she seemed to relax a little. She laid her head on Esme's shoulder as we continued down the stairs. Alice was sitting on the counter next to Jasper. She hopped down when we entered and smiled at Annie, who pressed herself closer to Esme and looked down.

"Annie, this is Alice." I said gently. She glanced up at Alice, who smiled and waved. Annie lifted her fingers in a slight wave and buried her face in Esme's shoulder. Alice moved to stand right in front of her and put her hand on her back.

"Hey, how do you feel about pancakes?" Alice asked gently. Annie's head popped up and she nodded quickly, curls bouncing everywhere. Alice giggled and nodded. "Pancakes it is." She moved to the counter and pulled a box of pancake mix and a mixing bowl closer to her.

"Can I watch?" Annie asked hesitantly.

"Of course." Alice smiled wider and patted the counter. Annie looked at Esme, silently asking for permission and Esme set her on the counter, staying close to her so she didn't fall.

**Alice's POV**

I'd never really gotten to cook for anyone before and standing in the kitchen mixing a bowl of pancake mix with Annie sitting there watching me was fun. I looked forward to cooking with her more.

"Do you want a big one or a small one?" I asked. She thought for a second before grinning.

"Can I have a bunch of tiny ones?" She asked.

"Yes you may." I said smiling and as I carefully made little dots of mix in the frying pan. Esme got out a plate and the syrup and set them next to Annie.

"Mommy makes them like that. It makes it fun." Annie said softly as she kicked her legs back and forth. I looked over my shoulder at Carlisle and he sighed. I felt bad for him. He was going to tell her that her parents were dead after she ate. I'd already seen how it was going to go. After setting the plate of mini pancakes in front of Annie at the table we all sat down around her as she ate. Esme set a glass of orange juice next to her plate and she grabbed that first, taking a long drink of it. It was silent as she ate. She looked at all of us, like she was studying us. Her glance landed on Jasper, who was still scared of hurting her and had stayed back, sitting on the counter. We were all shocked when she giggled and broke the silence.

"You don't have to be scared of me." She giggled. We were all silent for a second before Jasper chuckled and slid off the counter to stand behind my chair. He put his hands on my shoulders and I put mine on top of his.

"You have a big house." She spoke again, looking around at the big kitchen.

"We have a big family." Esme chuckled.

"How many?" She asked curiously, nibbling on one of her pancakes.

"Jasper and Alice have two more brothers and a sister." Carlisle answered. Annie's eyes widened and she looked at me.

"How do you live with that many boys?" She asked in awe. I laughed along with everyone else and shook my head.

"Our brother Emmett can get a little annoying at times." I answered.

"I don't have any." She said sadly. Then her eyes brightened. "But I might be getting a baby sister or brother soon. Mommy and daddy told me yesterday." I felt my chest seize and looked at Carlisle and Esme. I knew if we could cry, there would have been tears in Esme's eyes as she watched the child, unaware that her parents were dead, finished her food.

"Annie… there's something we need to tell you." Carlisle began. I tightened my grip on Jaspers hands and he squeezed my shoulders gently. Annie looked at Carlisle curiously. "It's about your mommy and daddy."

"What?" She asked, the curiosity in her face had grown.

"Sweet heart… there was an accident." He said began. "They didn't…make it." It was quiet for a few minutes.

"You mean… they died?" She asked quietly. Carlisle nodded slowly. Tears welled in her eyes and she looked at Esme.

"I'm sorry sweet heart." She whispered gently. The tears spilt over and she was crying. It was terrible to see. Nothing like this should ever happen to anyone. It made me hate what we were more. Esme pulled her into her arms and cradled her close. Annie allowed it and buried her face in her neck. She cried for several minutes. Carlisle patted her back and whispered soothingly to her. It was a while before her sobs turned to sniffles. Jasper sat down next to me and put his arm around my waist. I leaned into his embrace with a sigh.

" W-will I-I ever seen th-them a-a-a-again?" She asked hiccupping.

"Not here. But one day, in heaven." Carlisle offered. More tears came and she pressed tight into Esme's chest. It was another few minutes before she settled down again.

"Honey, do you have any family?" Carlisle asked. Annie thought for a second, sniffling, before shaking her head.

"Your parents didn't have any brothers or sisters?" Esme asked. She shook her head again hiccupping.

"What about grandparents?" Jasper asked.

"N-no." She shook her head and sniffed. It went silent again, except for Annie's hiccups and sniffles. Carlisle cleared his throat and leaned closer to Annie.

"Annie?" He asked. She looked up at him, wiping at her eyes.

"What would you think of staying with us?" He asked gently. She sniffed and looked around the room at us. She hiccupped a few more times before nodding slightly. I felt a rush of happiness run through my body, even though I already knew she was going to say yes. Esme stood up with her in her arms and smoothed her hair from her face.

"Let's go clean you up ok?" She asked gently. Annie sniffed but nodded. They left, Esme still talking soothingly to her, and Carlisle sighed, leaning back in his chair and rubbing his face with his hands.

"Well I guess that went as well as it could have." He sighed.

"Yeah, but now what? Carlisle… how are we going to go about this keeping her? I mean yeah everyone here is going to be fine with it. But the people in this town…. They're going to think it's strange that we adopt a little girl right after a little girl went missing not too far from here." Jasper said softly. I looked at Carlisle to see his reaction.

"I guess we only have one choice really. We're going to have to move again." He said.

"We just got here though." I said sighing. We'd only been living in this place for two months. I really didn't like that we had to keep moving so much.

"We don't have a choice." Carlisle said shrugging. I sighed and leaned back in my chair. Jasper sent out a calming wave and I smiled at him thankfully. "We'll just have to have a family meeting tomorrow when everyone gets home." He said.

"I'm kind of glad everyone is coming back a little at a time. It makes things a little easier." I said with a small laugh.

"And it might be better. We don't want to overwhelm Annie." Carlisle said nodding. "Do they know why you told them to come home?"

"No. I just told them it was an emergency." I said.

"This will be fun." Jasper sighed sarcastically. I giggled and slapped his arm. It was actually.


	3. Chapter 3

**Esme POV**

Seeing Annie cry when Carlisle told her that her parents were gone was heartbreaking. I wished so much there was a way to take her pain away. I tried to cheer her up a little by showing her the clothes Alice and I had bought for her. I laid out a few of the outfits on the bed.

"Which one would you like to wear today?" I asked holding her up so she could see. She sniffed and studied the outfits for a few minutes before pointing at a simple green t-shirt I had laid over a pair of jeans. I quickly helped her get dressed and took her into the bathroom to brush out her hair.

"Miss Esme?" Annie asked a little hesitantly. I smiled at her manners.

"Sweet heart, you don't have to call me "Miss" Esme." I said.

"What do I call you then?" She asked frowning. I thought for a second. Even though I was going to be her mother, I didn't really know if it was too soon for her to call me that right yet.

"Just Esme ok?" I said. She shrugged and nodded. I laughed a little. "Did you want to ask me something?"

"Can use the bathroom?" She asked quietly.

"Oh yes of course." I said quickly, putting the brush down and putting Annie back on her feet. It was going to take some time getting used to having a human child in the house and her humanly needs. A few minutes later we joined Jasper and Alice in the kitchen.

"Where did Carlisle go?" I asked.

"He went into his office. He asked if you would join him for a minute when you came down." Alice said.

"Annie, will you stay here with Alice and Jasper for a minute?" I asked kneeling in front of her. She looked from Alice to Jasper then nodded with a shrug. I kissed her forehead before going down the hallway. I waited until I was out of her sight before I ran at vampire pace to Carlisle's office. I found him sitting at his desk staring at his computer screen.

"What's wrong?" I asked shutting the door.

"Well, we're going to have to sit down with them family soon. If we are going to keep Annie, and it's already been decided that we are, then we are going to have to move again." He sighed leaning back in his chair. I moved around the desk and sat on his lap. He wrapped his arms around my waist and sighed again.

"Any idea of where?" I asked.

"Well we could go to Seattle." He said. "Or Alaska."

"If we go to Alaska then we could be close to the Denali's." I thought out loud.

"Yeah. I'm wondering what they would think of us adopting a human child." He thought out loud.

"I'm sure they wouldn't mind. And even if they did, it's not really their choice."

"Yeah, your right." He intertwined our fingers and I smiled down at them. I pressed my forehead to his and kissed him lightly.

"You know, we never did celebrate our Valentine's Day." He muttered with a little smile.

"I know." I smiled back.

"What do you think of, after everything get's settled here, me and you take a week and escape? We can go to our island?" He asked kissing my cheek.

"That would be nice." I sighed.

"It would be perfect." He kissed my neck.

"We might want to go back to the kitchen. I don't want Annie to be uncomfortable." I sighed. He nodded and I got up from his lap. But when we returned to the kitchen I found that Annie was doing pretty great. Alice had bought a box of crayons and a Disney coloring book the night before and she sat with her knees tucked under, her humming to herself, and coloring. Alice sat next to her, helping her and Jasper was handing her the right colors that she asked for when she wanted them. We stood in the doorway watching for a few minutes. Carlisle tucked me into his side and I lay my head on his shoulder and smiled. Jasper was much more relaxed, even smiling when Annie reached out her hand and said "green one please". She stopped and looked over her shoulder at us and waved us over.

"Look what Alice found me!" She said enthusiastically, lifting the book for us to see.

"I see." Carlisle chuckled.

"Want to help?" She asked.

"Sure." We sat down with her and she handed me a blue crayon, telling me to color in the bluebirds flying around Snow White.

"Green." Annie said holding out her hand to Jasper and he frowned.

"You already have the green one." He said.

"The other green." She said. He shrugged and looked in the box and pulled out a darker green. She froze halfway to his hand and raised an eyebrow.

"Wrong again." She said shaking her head.

"There are four different greens in this box." Jasper sighed. Annie sighed and stood up in her chair to look inside the box. She shook her head with another sigh and pulled out a lighter color green. Jasper raised an eyebrow at her and she shook her head and went back to coloring. Carlisle shook with silent laughter beside me and I bit back my own laughter.

"Carlisle!" Alice gasped suddenly, making Annie jump. She slapped her hand over her mouth and looked at us with a panic stricken face. Carlisle pointed towards the hallway and Alice got up and ran as fast as she could at human pace to hallway. Carlisle glanced at me curiously before following quickly.

"What's wrong with her?" Annie asked curiously.

"Alice drinks too much coffee." Jasper said quickly. Annie looked at me and I nodded. She shrugged and went on with her coloring.

"Somehow they were all able to get an earlier flight." Alice whispered to Carlisle.

"So they will all be home tonight?" Carlisle asked slowly. Jasper winced and I knew if I had a heart beat I would have stopped.

"Yeah. In fact they will be home in about two and a half hours." Alice hissed.

"I'll be right back." I said standing up and going into the hallway.

"What do we do now?" I asked.

"We just act normal for Annie. When they get here, Alice can take Annie upstairs and then we will talk to them." Carlisle said. Alice nodded and headed back into the kitchen.

"Hey Annie; want to come watch cartoons with me?" She asked. Her answer was the sound of a chair scooting fast over the wood floors and Annie's excited "Yes!" Alice came back with Annie on her hip, which still clutched her coloring book and a hand full of crayons, and headed to the living room. Jasper followed soon after.

"Should I stay down here when they get home?" He asked.

"Yeah, you might need to help keep the place calm." Carlisle said. Jasper nodded and headed towards Annie's excited babbling. I sighed and folded my arms. Carlisle pulled me into his arms and kissed my forehead.

"I hope it doesn't get too bad." I muttered.

"I'm sure it will be fine. Alice didn't say anything about it being a catastrophe." He said against my hair.

"It's just… it's going to be a big shock for them."

"I think it was for all of us." Carlisle chuckled lightly and I smiled slightly.

"Yeah I guess it was." We stayed in the hallway for a little while longer before joining everyone else in the living room. After three episodes of the Rescue Rangers, we figured out it was one of her favorites, much to Jasper and Carlisle's dislike, Annie's eyes were beginning to get heavy and she leaned more into me on the couch. She hugged a pillow and slipped her thumb in her mouth, and a few seconds later she was out.

"This is good; I just hope they won't be too loud." I muttered dropping a kiss to her forehead before Alice took her upstairs. Carlisle took Annie's place and I leaned my head on his shoulder. He pulled me tight against him and Jasper went to stand at the window. Alice came down a few minutes later and stood with him. I looked at Carlisle nervously when we heard a car coming up the driveway. Carlisle kissed the top of my head quickly and pulled us both to our feet and towards the front door. We went out and stood on the front porch as Edwards Volvo skin to a stop in front of the house, spraying my roses with gravel. I winced but ignored it as in a split second he was out and on the front porch. I could tell he hadn't wasted any time coming home. His button down shirt was badly wrinkled and his hair was disheveled. If it weren't for the fact that this was a serious time I would have laughed.

"What happened?" He asked. I winced at his yell, hoping it didn't startle Annie awake. Edward frowned at me. "Who?" I bit my lip, cursing myself.

"Something happened yesterday…" I started. I didn't really know what else to say. Carlisle tightened his arm around my waist.

"A vampire slaughtered a couple of people. Esme and I found them when we were hunting." He said. The images came back to my mind and I winced.

"Oh my God." Edward gasped looking at me in horror. I nodded sadly.

"There's more." Alice said. I saw her excitement in the way she was beginning to bounce on her heels. Edwards gaze snapped to Alice and they narrowed.

"Who is Annie?" He asked.

"The couple had a little girl, and she survived." Carlisle continued. Edward looked at him then at me. Then the realization hit him.

"Carlisle you're not serious." He whispered. I opened my mouth to speak when Emmett's Jeep sped up the driveway and stopped right before he hit the back of Edward's car. Then everyone was speaking at once.

"What the hell Alice!"

"What's going on?"

"Carlisle this is ridiculous! You can't be even considering it!"

"Will somebody please explain to me what's going?"

"Shut up!" Alice screeched and everyone went silent. Rose glared at her and crossed her arms. Emmett looked amused.

"Carlisle, think. We are vampires." Edward hissed.

"I've already seen the future Edward; it's going to be ok." Alice said. Emmett and Rosalie looked more confused than they'd ever looked. I opened my mouth to speak when a piercing scream interrupted me. I don't know who got there first, Carlisle or me, but the next second we burst through the door to our bedroom to find Annie laying on the floor sobbing. I knelt beside her and she reached for me. I picked her up and rubbed her back, whispering soothingly to her.

"What happened?" Carlisle asked her gently, looking her over.

"I-I f-fell!" She cried harder and buried her face in my neck. I rocked her gently back and forth and smoothed her hair.

"What the hell?" We turned to see that everyone had followed us, and now stood at the doorway, looking angry, confused, and curious. Except Edward, he looked furious.

"She's human Carlisle." He hissed.

"For crying out loud Edward! What are we supposed to do?" Alice threw her hands up in the air and glared at him. "She's homeless, they had to move quickly before he came back and a human already found the crime scene. There's already a search party for the child. How would we explain it?"

"We could think of something. Or just leave her at the police station and leave." He crossed his arms stubbornly and I glared at him over the top of Annie's curly head.

"Can someone just please start at the beginning and explain what happened?" Emmett sighed leaning against the door.

"Alice, take Annie in your room." Carlisle said. She nodded and I kissed the sniffling child on the forehead before handing her over. Alice whispered soothingly to her and everyone parted for her to get by. I sat down on the bed and the rest of them stepped into the room.

"Explain." Rosalie hissed. Carlisle raised an eyebrow at her but did as she said. He told them about how we had smelt the blood and followed it to the campsite. How her parents had been brutally murdered by a vampire and the only thing we could think to do at the time was bring her home. We told them that Annie had no living relatives. And about how Alice had already seen into the future and saw that Annie was going to be part of our family.

"How could you make this kind of decision without us?" Edward hissed.

"Edward… she needs us." I said gently.

"We could kill her." He muttered.

"We won't. Alice said everything would be ok." Jasper said. Edward sighed and ran a hand through his hair in aggravation.

"Just give her a chance Edward." Carlisle sighed.

"What about the rest of you?" I asked, looking at them.

"If Alice says she's going to fine with us, this I'm for it." Emmett said with a shrug.

"I don't know. I'm kind of with Edward. I don't want to hurt her." Rosalie said softly.

"Why don't we give it a few days? See how everything goes?" Carlisle asked after a few moments of uncomfortable silence. Edward sighed and left the room.

"Does that sound fair to you Rose?" I asked.

"I guess. But if it doesn't go good…" She asked.

"Then we will figure something out." Carlisle assured her. I was sad because I was hoping they'd all go for it like we did. I understood why they were worried though. I was still worried about that too.

"I like the idea." Emmett said, eyes shining.

"You're such a child Emmett." Rosalie sighed. We fell into silence and I heard Annie giggle. I couldn't help but smile at the sound.

"Can we meet her?" Rosalie asked quietly. I smiled and stood up.

"Yes, you're going to love her." I said leading her to Alice's room. Alice was sitting cross-legged on the bed. Annie sat facing her. I stopped in the doorway. They didn't do anything, just sat there staring hard at each other. Both of them weren't blinking. Alice blinked fast and cheered, bouncing up and down.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"We were having a staring contest." Alice explained. Annie turned and grinned widely.

"And I won!" She shouted. I laughed and sat down beside her. She crawled into my lap smiling happily. Emmett cleared his throat and Annie looked at him. She sank back into me and looked down shyly.

"Annie, this is Emmett, and Rosalie. Two more of my children." I introduced. She buried her head in my shoulder and Rosalie smiled, expression softening.

"Oh don't play shy." Alice smiled and nudged her shoulder. She giggled and looked up at her. "Say hi." Alice whispered playfully. Annie glanced over her shoulder at Rosalie and Emmett before wriggling her fingers in a slight wave. Emmett chuckled and she buried her head back in my shoulder. I motioned for Rosalie to come closer. She frowned and Emmett shoved her lightly forward. She glared at him.

"Do that again Emmett and your dead." She hissed. Annie giggled and Emmett winked at her. She sat up a little more. Rosalie walked slowly the rest of the way to us. Annie stared up at her she stared back, looking a nervous.

"Hey Annie." Alice broke the silence. "You want to go color some more?" Annie looked at me and I smiled and nodded. Annie slid off my lap and Alice stood up. Annie stopped looking down at her feet in front of Rosalie for a second before looking up.

"Want to come?" She asked shyly. Rosalie looked at me with a little bit of a shocked expression.

"Sure." She said slowly. Annie smiled up at her and reached up for Alice to carry her. I followed them out of the room. Annie pressed a little closer to Alice when they passed Emmett and he just smiled gently at her. I sighed. It was going to take a while for all of this to feel comfortable. Downstairs we passed Edward and Carlisle. From the looks of them they'd been in a heated conversation. He glared at Annie when Alice passed him before stomping out the front door, slamming it shut behind him. I sighed and Carlisle came to my side, dropping a kiss to the top of my head.

"Don't worry; she's going to melt his stone cold heart." Alice smiled and winked at me over her shoulder.

"I know you've never been wrong about your visions so I hope you don't start now." I sighed.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi guys! So I know it's been a long time since I posted a chapter and I am so sorry for that. I've been busy with a lot of things but I just wanted to let you know that I am working on new chapters for this story and will be posting very soon. Possibly by this weekend! Hope you guys can forgive me! I'll delete this note after I post the next chapter! To prove it here is a little sneak peak.**

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**(Alice POV)**

"He doesn't like me." She said softly. Then she looked up at me with a frown. "So I don't like him." I almost laughed but was able to bite it back. It'd been a week and a half since Carlisle and Esme found her and Edward hadn't budged with his decision. He'd tried to talk Carlisle out of keeping Annie. Though I knew it hurt them to say it, they told him if he didn't except her then he would just have to deal with it or leave. Rosalie had been mad at him many times before but never had she wanted to rip him apart the way she did now. I, on the other hand, wasn't mad at him because I knew something nobody else knew. Edward would accept Annie tomorrow.

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**I know, not a very big sneak peak but I hope it proves this story IS NOT OVER!**


	5. Chapter 5

**(Edward's POV)**

I could hear the child downstairs. Emmett was doing something that had her in peals of giggles and the others were laughing at her. I scowled and tossed a book carelessly into the box at my feet. Annie had been with us for a few days and she had won over almost everyone in the household, much to my annoyance. Yes the child was cute, I couldn't deny that, but my family had just completely thrown all caution to the wind. It hadn't taken Emmett or Rosalie very long to become wrapped around her finger. I felt guilty, I could see the pain on each other their faces and I knew what they were thinking. Each of my family members was sad they would never have children of their own. I wished with all my dead heart they could. But they can't and it was too dangerous keeping this young human child. Carlisle and Esme decided where we were moving. We were going to the middle of nowhere in Wyoming. A perfect place to hide the child until the news reports for the missing girl settled down. It was an hour from the nearest city where Carlisle was able to get a job. There was a very small town where we would be able to buy food and provisions for Annie. The laughter continued downstairs and I grabbed a book before flopping down into Carlisle's desk chair, and settled back to some history book of Jaspers. It wasn't interesting to me but if it kept me hidden in here long enough until Carlisle got home for us to have a very serious talk I'd deal with it. This would be my last chance to talk to him before we were set to leave in two days. I smelt the sweet scent of the child before her small curly head poked inside the room. Her cheeks were red and her eyes wide with excitement. Her brown curls hung wildly around her face, having come out of the careful French braid Alice had worked so hard on that morning. I watched as she snuck in, shutting the door as quietly as she could.

"Can I hide in here?" She whispered to me.

"Annie!" Rosalie called playfully before I could answer and without my permission she darted in my direction and slipped under my legs to hide under the desk. I stared in shock, not knowing what to say. I sighed and slumped in my seat, pinching the bridge of my nose. I could hear the others trailing around the house, every now and then calling for her, each of them knowing exactly where she was. Every now and then Annie would giggle. I clenched my teeth and picked the book back up, intending to ignore her. It wasn't long before the child became bored with the game.

"What are you reading?" I lifted the book and found her staring up at me curiously.

"A history book." I answered. Before I could continue reading she crawled out and grabbed onto my jeans. I froze as she easily crawled up to sit on my lap. She took the book from me and opened it. I sat completely motionless.

"Can I read it too?" She asked, looking back at me.

"Um…" Was all I managed to say. She frowned back at me.

"Are you scared of me?" She asked curiously. That snapped me out of it.

"No of course not!" I snapped. For a second I thought I'd scared her but then she burst out into giggles and covered her mouth with her hand. I felt my lips twitch at the corners but I resisted.

"You wouldn't like it; it's just a history book." I said, shaking my head.

"Oh I like history." She said, coming out of her giggle fit. I raised a brow and she smiled.

"Annie!" Alice was right outside the door and I stood up, setting Annie on the floor.

"Alice, she's in here." I said as I opened the door. She bounced in and I glared at her.

"You knew she was in here, stop trying to make me like her." I hissed low enough so that the child didn't hear me.

"Oh Edward just suck it up and enjoy it." She hissed just as low, glaring at me. "You are going to love her just as much as the rest of us in less than a week." She shoved passed me and started 'looking' for Annie, who had darted back under the desk.

"Annie? Where are you?" Alice called playfully. She was answered by stifled giggles. I rolled my eyes and leaned against the doorframe as Alice crept around the desk.

"Boo!" She yelled as she dropped to the floor in front of where Annie was hiding. She was met by screams and giggles and I chose to leave at that point. There were a lot of things I needed to pack in my room. I'd come back later when they'd had their fill of rolling on the floor playing 'tickle monster'. As I headed down the hallway I was met by Emmett and Rosalie, of whom both looked pissed.

"Just give up Edward. She's staying with us." Rosalie huffed.

"Leave me alone Rose." I glared right back at her. I changed direction and headed towards the door instead of upstairs. Esme was sitting on the sofa wrapping plates and glasses in newspaper.

"Where are you going?" She looked up when I passed by her and I tried to soften my mood.

"I'm going hunting. I'll be back late tonight." I opened the door and ran out.

…

**(Alice's POV)**

"Alice, look!" Annie caught my attention and I looked down as she held up a picture of what looked like stick figures in front of a house.

"Wow who are they?" I asked sitting on the floor beside her.

"You guys!" She said excitedly and then started pointing out each of us in the photo, everyone except for a certain someone.

"Where's Edward?" I asked. Her face fell and she looked down at the floor and rolled a green crayon between her fingers.

"He doesn't like me." She said softly. Then she looked up at me with a frown. "So I don't like him." I almost laughed but was able to bite it back. It'd been a week and a half since Carlisle and Esme found her and Edward hadn't budged with his decision. He'd tried to talk Carlisle out of keeping Annie. Though I knew it hurt them to say it, they told him if he didn't except her then he would just have to deal with it or leave. Rosalie had been mad at him many times before but never had she wanted to rip him apart the way she did now. I, on the other hand, wasn't mad at him because I knew something nobody else knew. Edward would accept Annie tomorrow.

"Honey he likes you." I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her into my arms.

"Then how come he's always mad at me?" She sniffed.

"He's just . . . shy." I shrugged and she sighed. Luckily Rosalie came in at that time with a plate in her hands.

"Hey Annie, are you hungry?" She sat crossed legged in front of us and Annie nodded enthusiastically and reached for the peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

"How's the packing going?" I asked.

"Good. Everything is done." She said, reaching out to brush one of Annie's stray curls that had fallen out of her French braid. Annie quickly finished eating and hopped off my lap to grab another piece of paper and continue coloring.

"Carlisle wants us to go hunting tonight before we leave in the morning." I tried not to smile so Rose wouldn't be suspicious.

"Who's staying with Annie?" I played oblivious.

"Edward's supposed to return from his hunting tonight." Rosalie spat his name out like a bad taste. "He's going to see if he wouldn't mind staying with her. Cause we're not going to leave until they get her to sleep." I nodded and stood up.

"Want to come show Esme your pictures?" I asked, reaching my hand out for Annie.

"Yeah!" She smiled excitedly and jumped up, gathering all her pictures and running ahead of me. Rosalie and I hung back and walked at human pace. By the time we got downstairs to the kitchen she was sitting on the counter and explaining her art to Esme, who was holding the picture of all of us.

"Where's Edward?" She asked. Again, Annie frowned and shook her head.

"I don't like him." She said with a shrug. I saw Esme's face fall a little and I broke in.

"Annie you want some juice?" I asked.

"Can I have chocolate milk instead?" She asked hesitantly. I smiled and nodded. It was cute how she was always hesitant and embarrassed to ask for anything. I poured her milk and mixed in a little chocolate syrup before giving it to her. At that time Emmett decided to join us. And Annie about spilled her chocolate milk everywhere.

"Emmett!" She sat the glass down on the edge of the counter, Rosalie caught it before it fell off, and slid off the counter. She landed with an adorable 'oof!' and fell to her knees. It was only a split second before she was up and charging at him. He knelt down and caught her in a hug before rising up and holding her upside down behind him. She squealed with giggles and I saw Esme wince.

"Emmett, be careful with her!" Rosalie hissed and he winked at her before setting Annie back down. She latched onto his leg and grinned up at him, still giggling.

"Can we play hide and seek again?" She asked.

"Well, I was coming in here to ask Esme something." He answered apologetically.

"Oh." Annie's face fell a little.

"How about later?" He asked. She brightened and nodded, wide smile back in place before skipping back over to her chocolate milk.

"What did you need?" Esme asked, handing Annie her glass.

"Well I know everything you want to take with us is going to be shipped, I just wanted to know if there are any boxes you wanted out in the cars." He said. Esme nodded and pointed to the boxes on the table.

"Those are dishes I'm taking. Put them in the back of Carlisle's car." She said and he gave her a mock salute.

"Annie you want to help me?" He asked. She nodded and handed her empty glass to Rosalie before running back to him. "I need you to hold the doors open for me while I carry the boxes out ok?" She gave him a salute, making him laugh and ruffle her hair, knocking more curls out of place. Emmett picked up a few boxes and Annie led him down the hallway. Everything was done in the house after Emmett finished loading the boxes. So the rest of the day was spent watching Annie 'beat' Emmett and Jasper both at hide and seek. Esme, Rose, and I were in the kitchen fixing Annie her dinner when Carlisle came in.

"Is Edward back yet?" He asked.

"No, he should be any moment though." I answered. As if on cue, said person walked through the back door. He looked calmer than he had this morning, but he still looked unhappy. He froze when he saw all of us standing in the kitchen. Rosalie was already glaring daggers at him. I could only image what she was saying to him in her mind. Esme flipped a grilled cheese sandwich on a plate and shoved it in Rosalie's hands.

"Take her upstairs to the bedroom. Once she'd done get her ready for bed." Esme spoke in a tone that left no room for argument. She obeyed, muttering curses under her breath.

"What's going on?" Edward asked, looking curious.

"We need to hunt before we leave in the morning." Carlisle started. Edward still looked clueless so he must have been guarding his thoughts carefully.

"Would you mind staying here with-?"

"Absolutely not!" Edward cut him off loud enough to make me wince.

"Edward you'll scare her." Esme shushed him.

"I didn't sign up for babysitting duty!" He hissed, glaring at them.

"Maybe not, but do you want to prevent an accident?" Carlisle glared right back at him.

"Carlisle-"

"It's been days since any of us hunted and you're the safest one she can be around at this moment." Esme tried to sound calm but she let some of her annoyance slip through. Edward clamped his mouth shut. He didn't agree but he didn't refuse either.

"We'll leave as soon as she falls asleep." Carlisle said. Edward didn't say a word, just a slight nod before stomping out of the room. I couldn't help but smile. Things were going as I'd seen in my vision. Now all I had to do was keep off of it for the next hour so Edward wouldn't know.

**(Edward's POV)**

I didn't say anything as they readied themselves to leave. Jasper and Alice had already left since Rosalie was tending to Annie.

"She hasn't had a nap today so she should stay asleep until we get back." Esme said when they were about to head out the door. I still hadn't spoken a word to them.

"Just in case, I'll be back in five hours or so." Carlisle added. I gave a short nod and watched as they left. Once they were gone I sank onto the sofa with a groan. At least the child was sound asleep. The only sound in the entire house was the steady thump of her heart beat and her slow breathing. When she began to dream I flipped the TV on to distract myself from hearing the childish dream of her playing with 'Emmy' and Rosie. I rolled my eyes when I saw the move _The Lost Boys _playing. Really, the picture Hollywood paints of us. It's quite ridiculous. Since there was nothing else really on I left it on that and halfway through the movie I found myself smiling in amusement. I'd completely forgotten about her, until there was a drastic change in her dream. I could see the horrified expression of a young woman with brown curly hair and bright blue eyes, forever frozen with fear of her gruesome death. Annie couldn't see what the creature bending over her looked like. It was just a dark shadow. The only thing she could see were the glowing red eyes of the creature. Then the images were gone and a piercing scream came from upstairs. Annie was awake and terrified. I don't remember running up the stairs but in a split second I was on the edge of the bed next to the frightened child. When the bed shifted from my weight she looked up at me with large red eyes, tears streaming down her cheeks. When she saw she was no longer dreaming she threw herself at me and wrapped her arms around me. I could feel her tears soaking through my shirt as her body shook with sobs. I was frozen in place, unable to think of what to do. After a few minutes I let my arms fall slowly and hesitantly rubbed her back. She tightened her arms around my waist. I relaxed a little more and very slowly wrapped my arms around her. When she didn't shy away I shifted her so her head was on my shoulder. She hiccupped and wrapped her around my neck. After a few minutes her sobs turned to sniffles. Snippets of the dream played in her head and she shuddered against me.

"D-don't let- let him get m-m-me." She hiccupped, pulling away and looking at me. Some of her hair was stuck to her wet cheeks and tears still continued to fall though she was no longer hysterical. Her words struck me hard in the pit of my stomach. She was so innocent and scared. She was still looking at me, sniffling and waiting for me to speak.

"I won't." I surprised myself when I spoke. What surprised me even more was I meant it.


	6. Chapter 6

**(Esme's POV) **

Annie's peaceful breathing made me smile and I reached out and brushed a curl from her face. A long day in the car seemed to wear her out. I'd packed a few coloring books and children's books so she didn't get bored. It worked pretty well, but there was nothing we could do about her continuous bathroom stops. I'd been worried the first couple times and asked Carlisle if it was normal for a young child to have to go so much. He'd assured me she was fine. I loved every moment of it. We'd stopped at a hotel so she would sleep comfortably. She informed us she'd never stayed at a hotel before in her life and she'd been so excited it took forever to get to sleep. I cringed when Carlisle hit a pot hole and she shifted in her sleep.

"She's going to be waking up in a minute anyway." He chuckled at me and I rolled my eyes.

"Maybe so, but I'd rather wake her up gently not roughly." He nodded at that and drove a little more smoothly up our new driveway. As soon as we pulled to a stop in front of the two story country house, everyone was out on the front porch. Alice opened the back door and started to wake her up. Carlisle was immediately at my door opening it for me. I smiled and took his outstretched hand, always a gentleman my husband. Annie blinked tiredly at Alice before a slow smile stretched across her face and she reached for her. Alice unbuckled her and hugged her tightly.

"Alice!" Annie squealed.

"Hey sweetie we missed you." Alice chuckled and Annie peered over her shoulder and gasped when she saw Rose and everyone else. Jasper left the reunion and pulled Carlisle to the side.

"I got a call back." He whispered low so Annie didn't hear. My stomach dropped and I saw Carlisle's jaw tense and he nodded. Rosalie looked over at us for a second before taking Annie from Alice.

"You want to come see your new room?" She asked. Annie hesitantly nodded and they headed inside.

"Esme, why don't you go with them? We'll be with you in a minute." Carlisle kissed my cheek and I followed after the others. Alice hooked her arm through mine as we climbed the front steps.

"Don't worry. Everything is ok." She whispered. Carlisle and Jasper had been calling and looking up information on Annie to see if she had any living relatives. I'd been trying not to think of it. If she had family we would have to turn her over to them, it was the right thing to do. But it was hard thinking of it. I'd wanted a child for so long and to just have one come into our lives and then be taken away, it would be hard to handle. We climbed a flight of stairs to a long hallway lined with several doors. We'd planned for mine and Carlisle's room to be next to Annie's. I pushed my negative thoughts aside and smiled when Emmett took Annie from Rosalie and placed his hand over both of her eyes when we stopped in front of one of the closed doors.

"Hey!" She whined.

"This is just to make sure you don't peek." Emmett chuckled and dropped a kiss to the top of her head as Rosalie pushed the door open and stepped aside for him to walk inside. The bedroom was painted a light purple with a darker purple sponged over it. There was a twin sized bed with a green bedspread and a white canopy over it. There was a book case filled with many children's books and a mini table with a tea set and stuffed animals on the mini chairs around it. The last rays of sunshine were coming in through the floor length window, casting an orange glow across the room.

"Alright, now you can look." Emmett removed his hands and Annie gasped, hands flying to slap across her mouth. Her eyes were wide and shocked as she took in everything. Emmett stood up and wrapped his arms around Rosalie's waist.

"What do you think?" Alice asked after she spoken for a minute. She swiveled her head and around to look at us.

"Is this… all mine?" She asked unsure.

"It is." Rosalie nodded. A huge smile broke out across her face and she flung herself at my legs, them tight and looking up at me.

"Thank you!" She squealed.

"Honey you should thank them, they put it all together." I motioned to Rosalie and Alice and she let go to do the same to them. After hugging everyone in the room she ran to the toy chest to see what was inside. Within a minute she had Rosalie and Alice involved in a tea party and wearing a plastic tiara and wearing a blue princess dress over her jean shorts and t-shirt.

"Where's Edward?" I asked, realizing he was nowhere in sight.

"We were so busy working on the room the past couple of days we completely forgot about food." Emmett answered sheepishly. "He left about an hour ago with a list. He should be back soon." At that moment Jasper and Carlisle joined us.

"Jasper!" Annie jumped up from her spot and ran over to him, grabbing his hand and attempting to drag him deeper into the room. "Come play with us." Jasper sat cross legged next to Alice and smiled amusedly as she tried to teach him how to hold his tea cup. I hurried over to Carlisle's side, curios and nervous at the same time. He smiled and curled his arm around my waist.

"Does she-?"

"Everything's fine." He interrupted me and kissed my nose. "She has an uncle in New York. He's in prison for rape." I felt my mouth drop and he rubbed my shoulder. I saw Rosalie's jaw tense and she wrapped her arms tighter around Annie sitting in her lap.

"So… she's ours?" I asked.

"Yes, as long as Alice's vision is real." Carlisle nodded.

"It is." Alice spoke low enough so Annie didn't hear. "And I've been seeing even more to make sure."

"What have you seen?" Carlisle asked a little hesitantly.

"I'm not telling. You'll have to wait and see." She smiled smugly.

"Alice that's completely unfair." Emmett grumbled.

"Where's the fun if you know what's coming?" Alice rolled her eyes and held her cup up when Annie offered her more 'tea'.

"Yeah Alice." Carlisle looked at her with a raised brow and she turned defensive.

"I can't help it." Jasper wrapped his arm around her waist and kissed her forehead. She immediately calmed and leaned against him. We all hung around Annie's room with her for a while. Edward returned with a welcome present for Annie. Emmett rolled his eyes when he toted in a grey stuffed horse that was just as big as Annie.

"Don't you think she has enough stuffed animals?" He asked when Annie grabbed it and hugged it so tight I was surprised the stuffing didn't pop out. Carlisle and I left the room to start fixing Annie dinners. The past few meals she'd eaten were fast food and I really wanted her to have a meal that didn't come from fast food place tonight. I settled on chicken, macaroni and cheese with steamed broccoli. I'd heard that children didn't much like vegetables but I was pleased to discover that Annie liked a good variety of them.

"So," Carlisle wrapped his arms around me as I stirred the noodles in a pot. "How are you enjoying taking care of Annie?" I smiled and leaned back against him.

"Very much." When I looked back at him he nodded and smiled.

"So am I." He tightened his arms around me and we stood there for a few moments. He stayed with me while I finished making dinner. I set up a tray to take up to Annie when he wrapped his arms around me once again, pressing a kiss below my ear.

"What do you say about taking a late Valentines trip, after Annie gets settled in?" He whispered against my neck. I was having a hard time getting the words out. With the way he was making me feel, I wanted to jump in his arms and leave right now. But I knew I couldn't possibly leave Annie right now.

"That sounds amazing." My voice sounded higher than normal to my own ear. He chuckled and reached around my waist to grab the tray and lifted it carefully over my head.

"I have a few places in mind." He said heading towards the hallway.

"Want to share?" I asked excitedly. He looked over his shoulder and winked at me.

"Nope." With that he was gone in the blink of an eye. I shook my head but smiled at his playfulness. My husband could be a big kid sometimes.

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**A/N Alright don't hate me! I know it's been a while and this isn't a long chapter. I'm really going to start moving along to when she's older. That's when it's going to get good****. Let me know what you think and expect another chapter soon!**


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